Augustana University Athletics

RESULTS | DAY TWO PROGRAM
 
BEMIDJI, Minn. - Augustana opened the 2014 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships winning the first event then swept the final four to close the first day of competition. The Vikings finished the day with five event wins and 20 qualifiers for tomorrow's finals.
 
After the first day, the women are in second with 38 points, 17 behind leader Minnesota Duluth, and the men are in third with 35 points which leaves them in striking distance of first-place Minnesota State (63 points) and second-place Sioux Falls (47.5 points).
 
Sophomore Kelsey Kaufmann backed up her league-best high jump mark entering the conference meet by winning the event for the first of five Viking victories on the day. Kaufmann cleared 1.72 meters (5 feet, 7.75 inches) on her third attempt to take the conference crown.
 
Augustana qualified for 20 events before the only other track finals were contested and they did not disappoint.
 
Kyle Blakeslee brought the Vikings their second title, winning the women's 3,000-meter run and improving her qualifying mark by 10 seconds with a 9:44.47. Kristin Brondbo, who already has the top and only automatic qualifying time in Division II, finished fourth with a 10:07.60.
 
John Klecker added a conference title to his stellar sophomore campaign, taking the men's 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:33.96. Augustana added three more men to the top eight of the event with TJ Gleason taking fifth and Harald Karbo and Adam Braun placing seventh and eighth, respectively.
 
"I was extremely pleased with how our athletes stepped up and performed their best when the pressure was on," head coach Tracy Hellman said. "We had great team performances by the men and women and are set up very well for tomorrow to finish with highly with both teams. It was especially exciting to finish day one with four straight victories!"
 
The other half of the four events Hellman was talking about came in the women's and men's distance medley relay, an even that both teams have earned a national reputation for their performances.
 
The women added a third consecutive win on the day, clocking a 12:15.12, a provisional qualifying time, to finish nearly 10 seconds ahead of the second-place team. With Emma Anderson starting the event in the 1,200-meter leg, Kayla Mescher grabbed the baton for the next 400 meters then handed off to new member Kara Bartels for the 800-meter leg, and Meritxell Delgado carried the Vikings home with the final 1,600 meters.
 
The men's quartet didn't equal the near-10 second winning margin, but their 10:24.83 was still over five second faster than second-place U-Mary. Nathan Hauge opened the relay in the 1,200 meters then Justin Cook ran the 400-meter leg, setting up Aduo Omot for his 800 meters, and Keegan Carda sealed the victory with his 1,600-meter run.
 
In the only other men's final the Vikings scored in, CJ Ham continued his streak of improving qualifying marks in the men's shot put, taking second with a best mark of 16.80 meters (55 feet, 1.50 inches).
 
Colleen Everson added two points for the women's score, placing sixth in the women's long jump with a season-best 5.49-meter (18 feet, 0.25 inch) leap.
 
In the first track event of the day, Blakeslee and teammate Kaitlyn Yoerg qualified for tomorrow's women's mile final. Yoerg added a second qualifying time in the 1,000-meter run and she will be joined by Anderson in the final on Saturday.
 
The Augustana men's trio of Karbo, Klecker, and Henrik Hansson turned in three of the four fastest qualifying times for the men's mile run. Karbo will also run in the men's 1,000 meters after turning in the top qualifying time.
 
Augustana placed one woman and two men in the 800-meter finals tomorrow. Meshcer will represent the Viking women while Hansson and Omot will run for the men. Carina Hofmeister and Skyler Kuil both finished with final-qualifying times in the women's and men's 400-meter dash, respectively, both in season-best fashion.
 
Anne Parsley and Zach Tuschen also turned in times fast enough for tomorrow's finals and will run for team points in the women's and men's 600-meter run, respectively.
 
Augustana's hurdling trio of Ryan Heuer, Brandon Gildemaster, and Zach Jones all clocked times fast enough for the 60-meter hurdles final. Also in the short sprints, Brother Justin Greenway and Jason Greenway earned spots in tomorrow's finals. Justin will race in the 200-meter dash and Jason will run in the 60-meter dash.
 
In Saturday-only events, Augustana will look to score big. Six men and four women will run in the 5,000 meters and Ham will look to place high in the men's weight throw. Both men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams own top-four times on the conference performance list this season and look to improve upon those marks.
 
Field competition at Bemidji State University will begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. and the track events start at 1 a.m.